Apparatus and Method for Processing Images

1. An image processing apparatus comprising: a selector configured to select at least one pixel from among pixels that correspond to narrow-band color information of image data that includes narrow-band color information and wide-band color information; and an estimator configured to estimate wide-band color information of the selected pixel, based on narrow-band color information of the selected pixel, narrow-band color information of pixels that are adjacent to the selected pixel, and correlation values between the narrow-band color information and the wide-band color information, wherein the narrow-band color information includes color information about light having a wavelength region corresponding to specific colors, and the wide-band color information includes color information about light having a wavelength region corresponding to several colors and a near Infrared wavelength region.

2. The image processing apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a region classifying unit configured to classify the image data into a homogeneity region and a non-homogeneity region using a Homogeneity theorem.

3. The image processing apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the selector is configured to select at least one pixel from among pixels that correspond to the narrow-band color information in the non-homogeneity region.

4. The image processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the estimator is further configured to estimate wide-band color information of a pixel that is not selected by the selector, based on the wide-band color information of the image data and the wide-band color information estimated by the estimator.

5. The image processing apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the estimator is configured to estimate wide-band color information of pixels that correspond to the narrow-band color information in the homogeneity region, based on the wide-band color information of the image data in the homogeneity region.

6. The image processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the narrow-band color information of pixels that are adjacent to the selected pixel is narrow-band color information of four pixels, and the four pixels include the pixels that are directly above, below, to the left, and to the right of the at least one selected pixel.

7. The image processing apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a calculator configured to divide the image data into 2×2 blocks that each include three pixels corresponding to the narrow-band color information and one pixel corresponding to the wide-band color information, and to calculate correlation values between the wide-band color information and the narrow-band color information included in each 2×2 block.

8. The image processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the selector is configured to select at least one pixel from among pixels that correspond to the narrow-band color information, which are located diagonal to pixels corresponding to wide-band color information of the image data.

9. The image processing apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising an image acquiring unit configured to acquire image data that includes narrow-band color information and wide-band color information that correspond to lights transmitted through a narrow-band color filter and a wide-band color filter, respectively, using photo sensors provided for individual pixels.

10. The image processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the narrow-band color information is color information about light transmitted through at least one of a Red (R) color filter, a Green (G) color filter, a Blue (B) color filter, a Cyan (C) color filter, a Yellow (Y) color filter, a Magenta (M) color filter and a Black (K) color filter, and the wide-band color information is color information about light transmitted through at least one of a panchromatic filter and a White & Near Infrared (WNIR) filter.

11. An image processing method comprising: selecting at least one pixel from among pixels that correspond to narrow-band color information of image data that includes the narrow-band color information and wide-band color information; and estimating wide-band color information of the selected pixel based on narrow-band color information of the selected pixel, narrow-band color information of pixels that are adjacent to the selected pixels, and correlation values between the narrow-band color information and the wide-band color information, wherein the narrow-band color information includes color information about light having a wavelength region corresponding specific colors, and the wide-band color information includes color information about light having a wavelength region corresponding to several colors and a near Infrared wavelength region.

12. The image processing method of claim 11 , further comprising classifying the image data into a homogeneity region and a non-homogeneity region using a Homogeneity theorem.

13. The image processing method of claim 12 , wherein the selecting of the at least one pixel comprises selecting at least one pixel from among pixels that correspond to the narrow-band color information in the non-homogeneity region.

14. The image processing method of claim 11 , wherein the estimating of the wide-band color information further comprises estimating wide-band color information of a pixel that is not selected, based on the wide-band color information of the image data and the estimated wide-band color information.

15. The image processing method of claim 12 , wherein the estimating of the wide-band color information comprises estimating wide-band color information of pixels that correspond to narrow-band color information in the homogeneity region, based on the wide-band color information of the image data in the homogeneity region.

16. The image processing method of claim 11 , wherein the narrow-band color information of the pixels adjacent to the selected pixel is narrow-band color information of four pixels, and the four pixels include the pixels that are directly above, below, to the left, and to the right of the at least one selected pixel.

17. The image processing method of claim 11 , further comprising dividing the image data into 2×2 blocks that each include three pixels corresponding to the narrow-band color information and one pixel corresponding to the wide-band color information, and calculating correlation values between the wide-band color information and the narrow-band color information included in each 2×2 block.

18. The image processing method of claim 11 , wherein the selecting of the at least one pixel comprises selecting at least one pixel from among pixels that correspond to the narrow-band color information, which are located diagonal to pixels corresponding to the wide-band color information of the image data.

19. The image processing method of claim 11 , further comprising acquiring image data that includes narrow-band color information and wide-band color information that corresponds to lights that are transmitted through a narrow-band color filter and a wide-band color filter, using photo sensors provided for individual pixels.

20. The image processing method of claim 11 , wherein the narrow-band color information is color information about light transmitted through at least one of a Red (R) color filter, a Green (G) color filter, a Blue (B) color filter, a Cyan (C) color filter, a Yellow (Y) color filter, a Magenta (M) color filter and a Black (K) color filter, and the wide-band color information is color information about light transmitted through at least one of a panchromatic filter and a White & Near Infrared (WNIR) filter.